Friday, April 4, 2014

Parking Policy Madness

Do The Maths

In our neighborhood, or at least our community board, people tend to be at least slightly better than described below. But there is still an unhealthy and counterproductive tendency to demand parking in new projects.

But parking is an issue that just makes people stupid. I realized this when it was apparent that local developers had an easier time getting neighborhood approval for projects if those projects included street facing garages because of parking concerns. Realize that street facing garages remove one public parking spot and replace it with a private one. If you're concerned about your ability to find a parking space, this is unequivocally a negative. But those concerned with parking were happy that these developments "provided" parking...by taking away public parking. And, yes, the width of one Philly rowhouse is basically one parking space.